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WNBA officials and the players union met Monday in New York for a few hours to try to make progress on a new collective bargaining agreement as ongoing negotiations potentially threaten the scheduled start of the 2026 season.
Monday marked the first in-person meeting including players since the WNBA playoffs and came at a time when CBA talks had stalled with the upcoming season slated to begin in 95 days.
Nearly three hours passed before people started to trickle out of the elevators and into the Olympic Tower lobby.
Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai was the first person spotted leaving. Stefanie Dolson left shortly after her.
Moments later, WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike walked out alongside Brianna Turner, Alysha Clark and WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson.
Asked in passing for a comment after the meeting, Ogwumike said, “Sorry, we can’t.”
The league also declined comment.
A source with knowledge of the situation described the meeting as a “step back in the right direction,” but the meeting produced no new proposal. In fact, the WNBPA is still waiting for a response from the league regarding a proposal the union shared six weeks ago.
The WNBA coming to the table without a counterproposal “set the tone” early, the source said.
Instead, the two sides spent the time discussing their own philosophies, sentiments and reasonings behind each side’s stances.
The union walked away from the meeting expecting the WNBA to share a counterproposal “soon,” though there’s no exact timeline set, according to the source.
Kelsey Plum and Napheesa Collier planned on being at the meeting, but flight issues pushed them to participate virtually. Breanna Stewart, who was scheduled to play in an Unrivaled game later, and Elizabeth Williams, who’s playing overseas, were among the 40 players who tuned into the meeting remotely.
Other attendees included WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti and other members of the league’s labor relations committee. Seattle co-owner Sue Bird was also in attendance, while Mercury owner Mat Ishbia participated virtually.
Kelsey Plum said last week at Unrivaled’s tour stop in Philadelphia that she planned to “learn a lot” from Monday’s meeting.
“This is a meeting that, I think everyone understands what’s at stake, timeline-wise,” Plum said.
Little progress has been made in recent weeks, and the league’s delayed reply to the WNBPA’s most recent offer has been the cause of frustration for some players, including Liberty guard Natasha Cloud.
“We will not f–king move until y’all move,” Cloud said Friday.
Players are asking for roughly 30 percent of gross revenue share as well as a $10.5 million salary cap. Meanwhile, the WNBA has offered 70 percent of the net revenue share (which equates to roughly 15 percent of gross league and team revenue share) and a $5 million salary cap.
In the meantime, the WNBA’s offseason remains on hold until a new deal is ratified. That includes a two-team expansion draft, free agency and the college draft. A strike isn’t out of the question either.r, with Azura Stevens saying last week that she was “prepared for” one.
“If the league wants to play around, and we don’t have a CBA, I have money. I’m getting paid from Unrivaled, and I have other revenues of income as well,” Stevens said. “So, it’s really their loss. So, that’s why I think that it’s just ridiculous that they’ve dragged it on this long.”
